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Khruangbin
Khruangbin are a psychedelic trio originating from Houston, Texas. Forming initially in 2010 by the trio of Laura Lee, Mark Speer and Donald Johnson, Khruangbin would become a full touring act by 2015 with their debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You and attain further critical acclaim with their 2018 follow-up Con Todo El Mundo. Khruangbin's nucleus is in genre-bending psychedelic rock with break-beats and sparse vocals, though pinpointing an exact sound is impossible as the band draws from a wide arrange of influences, ranging from Thai funk, Afghan music and Spanish folk just to scratch the surface.World Wide FMWashington Post Since forming Khruangbin has released two albums along with a host of EPs and has managed to tour all over the world. Notably the trio also host a radio program known as "Air Khruang" which composes of curated playlists of music the band is inspired by.Billboard The band's name itself is derived from the Thai word for "aeroplane". When asked to play their first gig, Laura Lee, who was learning to speak Thai at the time, decided they should use her favorite Thai word "khruangbin", (เครื่องบิน) which means "flying engine" or "aeroplane", as their name. In an interview with Premier Guitar, Speer would admit that, had they had the foresight to predict the band's success, they may not have chosen a name that was so difficult to pronounce. Though the band's name is notoriously challenging to say, it symbolizes the international set of influences that shaped the band's formation.Premier GuitarThe Guardian History Formation (2010 - 2013) Khruangbin's beginnings date back to 2004 when Speer and Johnson had met while playing in Rudy Rasmus's St. John's Methodist Church gospel band in Houston, Texas. The church employed Speer as the guitarist and Johnson as the organist.Bandcamp Daily Three years later Speer would meet Laura Lee through mutual friends where they initially connected over a shared love of Afghan music and Middle Eastern architecture. Two years later Speer would teach Lee to play the bass. In 2010, both she and Speer went on tour with Yppah while supporting Bonobo, Laura Lee on bass, Speer on guitar.Vulture This would essentially sow the seeds for Khruangbin's formation once Johnson would join up. Speer, Lee and Johnson would find a barn in Burton, Texas (A town with a population of 300) to record their studio works. The band would record in November and self-release en EP on cassette and 7" vinyl the next year, with the band's earliest known live performances happening in the Texas area.Khruangbin Facebook The Universe Smiles Upon You (2014 - 2017) Sometime after the tour with Bonobo the artist featured Khruangbin's song, "Calf Born in Winter," on his 2014 Late Night Tales compilation. The song became one of the most popular tracks on the record, helping create an initial audience for the band's EPs at the time in A Calf Born In Winter and The Infamous Bill. Shortly thereafter, Khruangbin were named The Guardian's "New Band of the Week", At the time of the EP releases the band had worked up enough material for their debut album. Another EP would follow on 18 April 2015 in History of Flight. Eventually Khruangbin's debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You would be released on 5 December 2015, garnering praise from the likes of Paste Magazine (8.4),Paste Magazine Noisey/Vice,Noisey.Vice and The Vinyl District (A-)The Vinyl District among others. What would follow would be two short tours, one in the UK and one leading up to SXSW in 2016. The band's touring would increase, supporting Father John Misty along with their first full North American tour that summer. Another EP in People Everywhere (Still Alive) saw release in 2016 and mainly sold on tour. In 2017 The band largely hit the festival circuit between a winter tour and a fall tour with Chicano Batman. Festival appearances included Bonnaroo, Electric Forest and Dimensions among other festivals. Con Todo El Mundo (2018 - Present) Khruangbin would begin work on a follow-up record in 2017, drawing from Middle Eastern and Spanish sounds in contrast to the Thai influences of the first album. Con Todo El Mundo would be released on 26 January 2018, with the name of the album coming from Laura Lee's Mexican-American grandfather, who would often ask, "How do you love me?" ("¿cómo me quieres?") and would only accept one response, "Con todo el mundo," or in Spanish, "with all the world." The band has been quoted as saying the title of the record is also a reference to the diverse range of musical influences that inspired it, primarily from the Middle East. Con Todo El Mundo would attain critical praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit (8.5),The Line of Best Fit Clash Music (9/10),Clash Music NME (4/5 Stars)NME and Pitchfork (7.6)Pitchfork among others. NPR would host a track-by-track observation on the album on the same day of the album's release.NPR The band would follow with the most extensive touring cycle of their career, hitting Europe and the US in direct support of the album in the Spring. Notably, Pitchfork would record a live performance on 11 April and release it on 25 April on their YouTube page, garnering over three million views. Preceding the album the band released a video for "Friday Morning" which attained nearly 5.5 million views by November 2018. A music video for "Evan Finds The Third Room" was released in late March while Khruangbin would tour the world including an Asia tour with dates in Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and India. The band also performed at festivals such as Bad Bonn, Best Kept Secret, Forecastle, Newport Folk, Øyafestivalen and Austin City Limits.Last.fm Discography Studio Releases *'The Universe Smiles Upon You' (2015, Night Time Stories Ltd.) *'Con Todo El Mundo' (2018, Night Time Stories Ltd.) Other Releases *'Khruangbin' (EP) (2010, Self-Released) *'เครื่องบิน' aka Khruangbin EP (EP) (2011, Self-Released) *'Live @ Helios' (Live Album) (2012, Self-Released) *'A Calf Born In Winter' (EP) (2014, Late Night Tales) *'The Infamous Bill' (EP) (2014, Night Time Stories Ltd.) *'History of Flight' (EP) (2015, Night Time Stories Ltd.) *'Remixes' (Remix EP) (2016, Boogiefuturo) *'People Everywhere (Still Alive)' (Single) (2016, Night Time Stories Ltd.) *'Fall Tour EP' (Split EP with Chicano Batman) (2017, Noise Trade) *'Christmas Time Is Here' (Single) (2018, Night Time Stories Ltd.) *'Live At Lincoln Hall' (Live Album) (2018, Night Time Stories) *'全てが君に微笑む' (Japan-Exclusive Compilation) (2019, Night Time Stories) *'Hasta el Cielo' (Remix Album) (2019, Night Time Stories) Members *'Mark Speer' - Guitar, Vocals (2010 - Present) *'Laura Lee' - Bass, Vocals (2010 - Present) *'Donald "DJ" Johnson' - Drums, Vocals (2010 - Present) Tours *'February 2016 UK Tour' (2016) *'March 2016 Mini-Tour' (2016)Khruangbin Facebook *'May 2016 European Tour' (With Father John Misty) (2016)Khruangbin Facebook *'The Universe Smiles Upon You North American Tour' (2016)Khruangbin Facebook *'The Universe Smiles Upon You Europe/UK Tour' (2016)Khruangbin Facebook *'2017 Winter Tour' (With The Shacks) (2017)Khruangbin Facebook *'2017 North American Tour' (With Chicano Batman) (2017)Khruangbin Facebook *'Con Todo El Mundo European Tour' (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Con Todo El Mundo North American Tour' (With The Mattson 2) (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Asia Tour 2018' (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Summer 2018 Europe/UK Tour' (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Good Thing Tour' (With Leon Bridges) (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'October 2018 European Tour' (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Fall 2018 North American Tour' (2018)Khruangbin Facebook *'Winter 2019 European Tour' (2019) *'2019 Australasia Tour' (2019) *'2019 Mexico / Coachella Shows' (2019) *'Summer 2019 European Tour' (2019) *'2019 South American Tour' (2019)Last.fm External Links *Khruangbin Facebook *Khruangbin Bandcamp *Khruangbin Instagram References Category:Band Category:Houston Category:Texas Category:USA Category:Burton Category:Khruangbin Category:Psychedelic Rock Category:Psychedelic Category:Funk Category:Soul Category:Instrumental